Public Education

[Adam Swartz]

Hey guy's and gal's I need your opinion on this. Let me know what you think. This is my own work however I got the idea from a friend of mine on facebook. I am thinking about talking to the chief of West Des Moines EMS about doing public education.EMS also known as emergency medical services is the backbone of every community along with the police. One thing I ask you all to do is the next time you see your local paramedics in public if they are not on a call I want you to say thank you for what you do. For most medic's as they like to be called would love to hear these two words. Please do not call them ambulance drivers as that is not what they do. If somebody calls for help in the middle of the night they will respond and help. So please help me in spreading the word that EMS rocks. Together we can help people to understand the system and how it works. I am going to be talking to the local chief of West Des Moines EMS about doing public education. Next time you get hurt, if it is bad enough call 911 however if it isn't please don't but if you are not sure just call anyway and listen to what the medics say. They have had to go through about two years of training to do what they do. Just treat them with respect. That is all they usually ask. Please don't abuse the system. We don't like that. We just like to help most of the time. So thanks in advance for your help guy's and gal's.

[itku2er]

We do alot of public education for our squad. We go to the schools set up booths at all the fairs and every sat night there is a thing on our main street that has music and stuff like that so we also have a booth there with lots of educational material. We pass out the 911 coloring books to the kids with crayons and when 911 is generous we also give them a bear. For the adults we have information on the most previalant conditions in our community, that have lots of information on the conditon the things to look for before you call 911. You might also want to talk with the people at 911 they can be helpful most the time with infromation on how that end works. grab a dispatcher to do a public discussion with you like at a school hospital etc.

[VentMedic]

It is a great idea but you also have to approach the public with a little tact and respect. Instead of focusing on what you are called and sounding like you have an ego inflation problem, stick to impressing them with your knowledge about safety and when to call. There will be other professionals in the audience that you have probably mislabeled their proper titles also. Don't come off like you are being critical of the public by scaring them into not calling or sound like you are scolding them. Once you offend, hearing problems develop. Also, you do not want to discourage people from calling or make them hesitate especially for the signs of a heart attack. Elderly law biding citizens might take you for your word and not want to bother those nice young paramedics.

When you state education requirements, make sure the public won't see a TV ad for a medic mill to "be all that in just 3 easy months". I believe Iowa still requires less than 1000 "hours of training" as entry level Paramedic and not a two year degree.

Keep the issues simple. Show more concern for the public than your own egos. The respect will follow if public sees genuine caring and professionalism. Hire a PR specialist if you want to choose your words more carefully and have professional advice to maintain a public image.

[ERDoc]

I would also avoid saying that EMS is the backbone of the community. It comes off as very egotistical as there is so much more to a community than just the ambulance.

[Upton4785]

I'm confused about the OP's post. I'm not sure if he's looking for public education about local EMS systems or if he's looking to get a pat on the back whenever he meets John and Jane Q. Public. If education is your goal, I'm right behind you. I agree completely that the public should be aware of their EMS system, how it works and what it's capable of. They should also showcase their employees as outstanding, educated professionals. But if your goal is to get everyone in the town to personally thank and congratulate you on a job well done, then your heart may not be in the right place. You may be too inwardly focused, which can actually do more harm than good (just look at what ego has done to the reputation of Police Officers). I understand, the uniform is sexy and chicks love the Hero type, but the ego places being an EMT in front of being yourself. Like VentMedic said, stick to impressing them with your knowledge. Education is the key to saving lives, not equipment, uniforms or titles.

[paramedicmike]

I'm with Doc and Vent. There seems to be an awful lot of ego driven "we are great" in the original post. How about moving away from the ego boost and getting to the substance of the matter?

How about, instead of a letter to the editor style ego trip, a series of serious educational seminars be held? You could discuss what to expect when someone dials 911. You could also discuss what information the caller might need to have available when EMS arrives. You can also discuss what the caller should expect from EMS. Rely on verifiable facts and not myth or supposition.

Please, at all costs, avoid stuff like "I want you to go say thank you" and "Please don't abuse the system. We don't like that.".

To sum up, less ego, more fact.

Seems pretty simple.

Good luck.

[Adam Swartz]

Thanks for the replies guy's. I am going to work on some stuff with a friend of mine and then will post on here for your guy's opinion. Thanks again for your help.

[Arizonaffcep]

I would be careful about "educating" the public on what to call 911 for. Liability wise, it could be potentially devastating for you. Here's why: if you tell someone to call 911 for this and not to call 911 for that, the public doesn't/can't discern an emergency from a non-emergency. Where my concern lies is they may misconstrue what you say, and end up not calling 911 when they should, and God forbid, someone dies from it, they can go to a layer and say...ya this medic told us not to call 911, and a law suit is born.

[Richard B the EMT]

Unfortunately, Arizonaffcep, this ends up with the ongoing problem of 9-1-1 being called for everything from stubbed toes to the radiation burns from the Martian Invaders' ray guns (don't ask, that one is a regular caller of at least one time a week), to the actual witnessed Cardiac Arrests with CPR in progress.

It falls on the call takers and/or dispatchers to sort it out, and they are not always successful.

[Adam Swartz]

So how do you guys and gals suggest I go about this?